Philippine diplomacy at its best

One of the finest achievements of Filipino diplomats went largely unnoticed and unheralded here at home – no doubt because of our total absorption in the May 11 elections. I refer to the successful chairing by the Philippines, in the person of Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan and his diplomatic team, of the 2010 Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) last month in New York. The NPT is the keystone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. The conference review is held every five years to assess the operation of the Treaty and to determine appropriate action to make its implementation more effective.

The very title of the treaty suggests the enormity of the task that our diplomats fulfilled with flying colors. The NPT is global in scope and addresses the problem of the proliferation of the most fearsome weapon ever devised. It is no exaggeration to say that the 2010 RevCon dealt with human survival, considering that there are still enough nuclear weapons to destroy civilization as we know it, despite recent and significant nuclear arms reduction agreements. It also dealt with such fundamental issues as national defense, deterrence, global and regional strategic balances, the nature, scope and pace of disarmament, nuclear terrorism and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which all projections show are going to boom, especially in Asia.

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, therefore, were intimately involved in the RevCon. Every other major and emerging power, from the EU and Japan to Brazil and South Africa, joined the conference. The majority of the world’s nations, mobilized within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to which the Philippines belongs, expressed their collective voice. Even Iran, one nation whose unclear nuclear ambitions have attracted global concern, attended.

Given the stakes involved, the interests at play and the rivalries, it is commendable that the Philippines, in partnership with other nations, was able to steer the 2010 RevCon toward a successful conclusion in the form of an outcome document agreed on by the participating nations. The 2005 RevCon failed to come up with a similar agreement.

Nuclear disarmament is one of the most difficult issues in diplomacy. Getting agreement on just one single aspect of nuclear disarmament is next to impossible. Yet Ambassador Cabactulan was able to get the nuclear power states, the non-nuclear weapons nations that rely on a nuclear umbrella, and the Non-Alignment Movement to agree to a 64-point action plan.

The 2010 RevCon also came to agreement to prepare for a 2012 conference on the Middle East which would focus on establishing a nuclear weapons free zone in that volatile region that is crucial to Philippine national interest. No action on this had been taken since the idea of such a conference was first accepted in the 1995 RevCon.

To achieve this outcome, Ambassador Cabactulan led the Philippines’ participation in the preparatory committee meetings preceding the 2010 RevCon. In addition, discreet discussions had to be held as well as public activities in several countries. Confidential talks with governments had to be managed while confidence-building activities were undertaken with civil society.

In this task he was given outstanding support by the best and brightest in our government – the officers and staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs. I have had the good fortune of working with the men and women of the department before, during and even after my stint as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, particularly the career corps of officers — the Foreign Service Officers or FSOs. Our FSOs are largely competent and professional. They have a clear idea of our national interests in international fora and have the commitment, determination and sense of urgency to pursue these.

Among those who were with Ambassador Cabactulan at the NPT Review Conference was Ambassador Domingo L. Siazon, our Ambassador in Tokyo and a former Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Siazon is a nuclear physicist and was at one time our Ambassador in Vienna and representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

I have worked directly with some of the Foreign Service Officers who supported Cabactulan when I was Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Linglingay Lacanlale, who is moving from Vienna to Bangkok, was my Chief of Staff. Ambassador Evan Garcia, Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva was my Special Assistant. So too was Ambassador Carlos Sorreta, Cabactulan’s deputy permanent representative at our UN Mission in New York.

Ambassador Cabactulan was my Economics Officer when I was the Philippine envoy to Belgium and the European Commission. He joined me as my Special Assistant in Manila when I became Secretary of Foreign Affairs. At my request, he introduced computer technology to DFA. In 1994, he was also the first to explore the computerization of the passport division which was successfully implemented 16 years later. But that is another story which requires another column about the DFA.

Both the President and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs had the vision and sagacity to give Ambassador Cabactulan their blessings in this important endeavor of chairing the RevCon of the NPT. Their support lent him the prestige of their offices and showed the world our country’s support for the undertaking.

Even so, all credit for this achievement belong to Ambassador Cabactulan and his diplomatic team. They are all career diplomats, among the best the country has to offer. The 2010 NPT RevCon is proof of what our career diplomatic corps can do when properly led and supported.

Parenthetically, it is my hope that president-elect Benigno Aquino III will select his new ambassadors primarily from our career service, particularly for the posts in ASEAN, China and Japan. Political ambassadors can be considered but their competence and value added to the host country should be seriously evaluated before appointment.

Like most everyone else at the dawn of the nuclear age, the Philippines found itself on one side of the bipolar world. Yet we were among the first to actively fight for a world free from nuclear weapons.

In his 2009 book, Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement, historian Lawrence S. Wittner noted: “Some of the sharpest condemnations of nuclear weapons came from the leaders of Third World nations. In November 1949, Carlos Romulo of the Philippines, then U.N. General Assembly president, called for the temporary suspension of atomic bomb production and for the prohibition of the use of existing bombs.”

In pursuit of this policy, one of my last acts as Foreign Affairs secretary was to authorize Philippine support for a United Nations General Assembly resolution that would challenge nuclear weapons in the International Court of Justice. The Philippines subsequently filed its own pleading and argued before the ICJ that the threat or use of nuclear weapons were illegal under international law.

In helping to bring the world one big step closer to eliminating nuclear weapons, Ambassador Cabactulan and his support team did humanity a great service. And they put Philippine diplomacy firmly on the radar screen of the international community.